Green Your Holiday Shopping: Give Life

‘Tis the season for consumption. This week’s tips are about how to be generous while staying green.

Tip #1: Give life.

As Jacques-Yves Cousteau said, “People protect what they love.”

Assuming that’s true, how do you instill a love of nature in the children whose job it will soon be to protect the planet they stand to inherit? Attach joy and wonder to natural phenomena, that’s how.

The holidays present an excellent opportunity to give something that helps kids morph into lifelong biology enthusiasts. Sierra magazine’s 2011 gift guide, called “Gifts That Keep on Living,” lists great ideas for delighting gift-getters with the miracles of nature. Rather than wrapping up the plastic or plush toy du jour, which is likely to get played with for mere months before being doomed to the depths of the toy chest, give something they’ll carry forever.

Tip #2: Plan your transit.

Tip #3: That's a wrap.

Tip #4: Bag the bag.

Tell us: How are you greening your holiday shopping?